Part magician, part storyteller, part comedian, and all entertainer, Jim Alberti is a third-generation flea circus impresario. After a long career in theater, Alberti began itching to revive the flea circus that was once performed by his great uncle and later by his grandfather. He envisioned bringing it to a new generation that had never had the opportunity to experience a flea circus.

Alberti first took the revived flea circus on the road in the 1980s, and since then he and his talented troupe of fleas have captivated audiences at fairs, festivals, and theme parks across the United States and Canada. The Georgia National Fair, the Iowa State Fair, the Minnesota State Fair, and the Ottawa Expo are among the hundreds of fairs and festivals delighted that they booked the Alberti Flea Circus (click here for quotes from fair managers).

The flea circus has been a remarkable tool for attracting media attention for the fairs and festivals that book it. This media attention includes national feature stories on CNN Headline News and CBS Evening Magazine as well as countless local television, radio, and newspaper stories (click here for sample newspaper articles)

In the 1990s Alberti added variety and flexibility to his performances with the Strolling Street Organ Show. He continues to write and produce his own shows, including the ever-popular Kids Calaphonic Kudzu Kazoo Band and Street Organ Show, Professor Alberts Punch and Judy Show, the Senior Street Organ Show, and a variety of other participatory shows for audiences of all ages.

In the off-season Jim Alberti uses his teaching skills to do workshops in the Eastern Coastal states for children (ages pre-school to 12 years old) and their teachers, showing teachers how to use imagination as a tool for learning. In this capacity he has worked with Smart Start, Head Start, individual childcare centers, the Ys, recreation departments, schools, and libraries.

Alberti has an MFA in design and theater history, has worked in theaters both on and off Broadway, and has taught as a guest artist at several college theater programs including the University of Rhode Island, George Mason College, and North Carolina School of the Arts (where he later worked as a design director from 1980-1988). His book Newspaper Tearing and Folding is used in creative workshops and is part of many library collections.